Technological development is a two-sided process, meaning that, with the development of new opportunities for improvement and security, new options for breaking security and stealing data also emerge. Therefore, studying the available methods of addressing online security issues, as well as the types of data security breach, becomes all the more important. The phenomenon of a buffer overflow attack is one of the more recent challenges to online security, which implies that the amount of incoming data exceeds the processing capabilities of a machine, thus causing extra information to overflow into the adjacent storage (Islam & Aktheruzzaman, 2020). Since the latter often represents a less secure environment, the probability of security breach increases exponentially. Therefore, the notion of buffer overflow represent a major online safety concern for users.
Detecting a case of a buffer overflow may seem slightly tedious, yet it allows reducing the impact of the described threat and minimize the vulnerability of personal data. By performing a routine check, one can avoid the situation that will lead to buffer overflow and the resulting exposure of data to external risks. To check the presence of any vulnerabilities, one may need to revisit the approach toward arranging data. Namely, when managing the information related to a series of closed (yes/no) questions. One will have to store the user’s string in one buffer to minimize the amount of information processed (Xu et al., 2018). Thus, the threat of a buffer overflow attack will be reduced significantly.
Given the dangers that buffer overflow attacks represent, the significance of introducing tools for preventing them from occurring rises tremendously. Indeed, in the wake of the era when the amount of information processed by personal computers daily is getting increasingly high, the role of online security gains additional sense of urgency (Xu et al., 2018). To address the threat of buffer overflow attacks, one may want to consider extra solutions for managing online security. Apart from the solution offered above, one will have to embrace options such as the analysis of the initial code and the inherent vulnerabilities in it, thus closing the loopholes that malware can exploit in order to use the buffer overflow phenomenon as a gateway to accessing users’ data.
In addition, it is helpful to consider the languages that are deemed secure form the buffer overflow attacks when creating the source code. For instance, the C++ is not believed to provide enough safety when it comes to the threat of buffer overflow and the related vulnerabilities, yet the languages such as Java, Python, and.NET are considered to be safe (Xu et al., 2018). Therefore, using the described languages as the basis for coding should be seen as a strategy for creating extra options for reinforcing the safety of a user.
Finally, one should mention the possibility of mitigating the phenomenon of a data overflow attack. Once the latter is spotted, it can be addressed by address space layout randomization (ASLR) (Chaim, Santos, & Cruzes, 2018). The latter concept serves as the barrier to implementing the attack, as well as the method of containing the vulnerabilities of a system, thus reinforcing its security. The strategies listed below are far from being the only solutions to the problem at hand, yet they typically represent the main methods of managing it. Nonetheless, it is worth keeping in mind that attacks are becoming more sophisticated and refined, demanding that the security systems should be updated regularly.
References
Chaim, M. L., Santos, D. S., & Cruzes, D. S. (2018). What do we know about buffer overflow detection? A survey on techniques to detect a persistent vulnerability. International Journal of Systems and Software Security and Protection (IJSSSP), 9(3), 1-33. Web.
Islam, M. R., & Aktheruzzaman, K. M. (2020). An analysis of cybersecurity attacks against internet of things and security solutions.Journal of Computer and Communications, 8(4), 11-25. Web.
Xu, B., Wang, W., Hao, Q., Zhang, Z., Du, P., Xia, T.,… Wang, X. (2018). A security design for the detecting of buffer overflow attacks in iot device.IEEE Access, 6, 72862-72869. Web.